‘Life Unexpected’: 10 Questions With Shiri Appleby

Shiri Appleby stars on The CW’s ‘Life Unexpected‘ (Monday, 8 p.m.) as Cate, a successful radio personality whose life is turned upside down when she gains custody of a child she gave up for adoption. The succinct Appleby discussed filming in Vancouver, the close knit cast, and the stress of waiting to see if the show will be picked up for a second season.

Who do you think is the right man for Cate?
I think she could probably end up with a combination of both of them.

Why do you think Cate is so screwed up with regards to men?
She doesn’t have much of a relationship with her father but I wouldn’t say that she had any strong role models. She’s trying to figure it out as she’s going along.

How is Lux’s relationship with Cate going to grow and change?
Cate tries really hard. Lux obviously has a lot of unresolved feelings around being put up for adoption.

It seems like just yesterday that you were playing a teenager on ‘Roswell.’ It is weird playing a teenager’s Mom now?
Yeah. Totally. It doesn’t feel wrong. I’m not prepared to be playing a mother on TV. At the same time, the character really wasn’t prepared to be a mother.

Your co-stars wrote songs and poems to get into their characters. Did you do anything creative to prepare to play Cate?
I read a book about girls who gave their babies up for adoption before Roe versus Wade. That’s how I connected with Cate. Over the years I had gone on a lot of radio tours and gone to different radio stations. I kind of understood that world.

We're sorry, but this content is not available to your web browser.

What’s the vibe like on the set?
We all know that we are really lucky to get on a show that’s good quality. Everyone’s bringing their A game. We all want to make names for ourselves. We’re all young.

What have been your favorite scenes so far?
I loved it when Baze [Kristoffer Polaha] came into the radio station.

What was the casting process like? How did you end up with two hot guys?
I got pretty lucky didn’t I? They called my manager. They wanted to make it pretty clear that they were telling stories from a young mother’s point of view. I read the script. I could totally relate to the character. I came in and auditioned. A few weeks later I was in Vancouver.

Life Unexpected went through a protracted development process. Was it stressful?
Uncertainty is always really difficult. But it’s a part of the profession.

Has there been any news about getting renewed for the second season?
No. We won’t know probably until the end of May. All we’ve been hearing is that the network is really supportive of it.